Jacob Two-Two (in the Last Drops of Orange Crush thread... although the placement is not important, the sentiment is) responding to those who seek to "strike a balance" between rights and freedoms and security panics.

Jacob Two-Two wrote:

There is no "correct balance". The correct position on rights and freedoms is standing up for them and denouncing those who would erode them in the strongest terms. [...]

Freedom of the press allowed the reporter to ask the question however it seems the barking class in the MSM just can't take it when someone throws their shit back at them. Given that everyone in Canada including foreign visitors are covered by the rights in the Charter it comes down to if you want to be an asshole then don't complain when someone says you are a biased jerk.

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The whole context is from a question addressed to Canadian Minister Dion attacking the Chinese government (whose representative was next to Dion in the same meeting). The full quote is as follows ...

Quote:

The Ambassador's letter highlights why he is the diplomat. It covered it all and was polite.

Asking a negatively phrased question of Dion to get him to talk about the reporters' list of "concerns" was third rate journalism and the fact that it was supposedly a joint question from various MSM outlets highlights just how low Canadian journalistic standards are. If the reporter had asked the Foriegn Minsiter of China about those incidents directly then that would have been good journalism but instead he wanted to presume the truth of his statement in a question to the Canadian Minister.

Seems to me that if you ask a rudely worded question of a third party while the person being gored is in the room then one should expect to get a snarky response from the person you are trying to embarrass. Freedom of the press allowed the reporter to ask the question however it seems the barking class in the MSM just can't take it when someone throws their shit back at them. Given that everyone in Canada including foreign visitors are covered by the rights in the Charter it comes down to if you want to be an asshole then don't complain when someone says you are a biased jerk.

I asked babblers for help picking a new smartphone, and radiorahim weighed in with great advice as always, but somewhat focused on his prime interest - free non-proprietary stuff and the ability to re-purpose the device.

babbler: "Hey, radiorahim, I'm in the market for a decent used car... what do you suggest? I'm an (occasional) city driver, so I want something that represents good value, has decent fuel efficiency and low emissions. With a family of five, ample seating and a roomy trunk would be a definite bonus!"

radiorahim: "You can't go wrong with a 2002 Ford Taurus. The manifold bolts are very accessible, which comes in handy when you decide to rebore your cylinders. You'll want to replace the factory windshield wipers, but you can find superior replacements on eBay for a few bucks. And the hose clamps are held on with plain hex bolts, not proprietary Phillips screws!"

While I find discussion a little bit in poor taste, I must say that the one benefit that the ultra rich provide for the 99% is the ability to gossip freely about them. I personally have had the good fortune of avoiding this problem by avoiding success (it is one of my core competencies).

Of course, this is ridiculous. Gaia is in no danger at all. A lot of the existing biosphere, including our own species and many others, are facing extinction, but this is no threat to mommy Gaia. She has had litters of children go extinct numerous times in the past. In a few million years, she will have healed the wounds, and be ready to launch more litters of children, who may do better than we and our predecessors have.